i8 
L A X D Si W A T !•: R 
April 6, 1916 
eal skins. The " Wcddcll " seal is not a fnr bearing 
creature, but is covered with coarse hair which has no 
warmth in it. These animals are protected from the cold 
by a thick layer of fat, called 'blubber," which lies just 
under the skin. Newlv-born seals have soft, fur coats, 
but they arc not calved imtil October; Seal blubber 
makes excellent fuel, and if enough seals can be secured, 
this would solve the fuel difficulty. 
Ready Stores Only 
It apjxjars that " ready stores only " were landed at 
Cape Evans. Fortunately there are large stores of food 
left by the Scott Expedition here : and at Cape Royds, 
Sir Ernest's old winter quarters during his last expe- 
dition, about seven miles distant, there are other large 
supplies of tinned food and flour. This place can be 
reached from ('aj)e I-'vans whether the sea be frozen or not. 
by way of the Barne C.lacier. It appears that only 
two months' stores were landed by the Aui-ora at Hut 
Point, but at the Discovery Hut at this place there were 
considerable supplies of biscuits in i()i2, and these will 
be good for any length of time. 
It seems fairly certain that there is not likely to be any 
distress from lack of food. Clothing is likely to be the 
difficulty. Fairly satisfactory foot-gear can be made 
from seal-skins, but not clothes. Seal-meat is excellent 
eating, tasting not unlike bear flesh. 
It would appear that food depots had been laid out 
towards the Pole, as the message tells of " six who had 
made the journey to the South " having returned s"fely 
on March 4th of last year. At present, however, we do 
not know how far south this party succeeded in placing 
these depots. The message states, "On January 24th (iQi.s) 
a party of three men, with dogs, set out for the Bluff to 
establish a depot, taking stores with them for that 
purpose." Also, that " the next day Captain Mackin- 
tosh, accompanied by two other members of the party, 
left the ship for a sledge trip with dogs." 
Later wc are told, on May 6th, the day the Aurora 
was blown out to sea, that " Captain Mackintosh and his 
two companions, as well as the three men who had gene 
to the Bluff to establish a depot, and four members of the 
Scientific Staff, were ashore." The message continues; 
" We saw no more of them. " It would appear, at first 
sight, that there was a grave note in this last sentence. 
And if the ship were at Hut Point all the time, from 
January 24th to May 6th, and the two references con- 
cerned the same journeys of these two parties, the news 
would be grave enough, as it would be clear that the 
Bluff party (we are not told where the other party went) 
at least, was several weeks overdue. They would not be 
likelv to be out more than two weeks from Hut Point, 
as the distance would jirobably be not over 80 miles to 
where they would depot their supplies. As they had 
dogs with them, this should allow "ior reasonable delays. 
Bvit on January 24th and 23th, when these two parties 
left, the Aurora, on accovmt of the ice, had probably 
been unable to get within many miles of Hut Point. 
On referring to my diary I fincl that in iqii Captain 
Scotfs ship the Terra S'ova got within two miles of 
Cape Evans as early as January 4th, yet the following 
year she was unable to get nearer than two miles of 
Cape Evans as late as February 6th. It is therefore 
quite concei\'able that the Aurora might have been 20 
miles or more from Hut Point on January 24th. 
Hut Point 
The Bluff party, having made one journey to the place 
where they depotcd their stores, perhaps returned to 
Hut Point, and after a few days started off again with 
other supplies. In the meantime, the ice having broken . 
up between Cape Evans and Hut Point, the ship proceeded 
there, and on March 4th, as we know, took olf the i>arty 
of six who had returned from the journey on which they 
started on January .list. 
Unless the Bluff party of three made, as I think they 
did, more than one journey, they had not returned -two 
months after the motor-party got safely back, though 
they had started a week earlier than the motor jjarty. 
The message is not clear on this ])oint, but 1 think that 
wc may safely assume that they made more than one 
journey, and that they had not returned from the last 
one. In the meantime, since thc\' left on January 24th, 
the ship had merely not be6n in touch with them, and 
had left Hut Point" for her winter berth on March 4th. 
\\'e can but hope that this is what is meant, until we 
know more. 
The motor party no doubt aimed for a point much 
farther south than the Bluff, but Capt. Scott's experience 
of motor-sledges was not a happy one. How far this 
party went is at present a matter of conjecture. We can 
only hope that they had better luck with their machine 
than Scott did. As for the scientists, they are probably 
safe enough at Cape Evans. 
Cape Evans cannot be reached from Hut Point except 
by way of the frozen sea, and if Sir Ernest Shackleton 
arrived at Hut Point in February or March of this year 
he would probably find the way to Cape Evans barred bv 
open water, as the ice usually breaks up in January and 
February. In this event, he would have to remain there 
imtil the sea froze, which it probably would do in April. 
There is no way of reaching Cape Evans from Hut Point 
except over the frozen sea, the land is completely blocked 
by the impassable glaciers of Mount Erebus. He would 
have to subsist on such supplies as he found there, 
supplemented by seal meat. There are usually a good 
many seals at this place, and the blubber would make 
good fuel. Here again clothing would be a problem, 
as very little of anything seems to have been left 
by the Aurora, beyond the sledging rations, the major 
part of which was probably " depoted ' by the various 
Southern parties at different points. In any case, it 
would not have appeared necessary to land large supplies 
at Hut Point, seeing that the Base was Cape Evans and 
that was well provisioned. 
Doubtful Points 
A few more days will j^robably set at rest all furthe'" 
conjecture, as we shall no doubt hear of the safe arrival o^ 
the Aurora at New Zealand. It is to be hoped that all 
these doubtful points will then be cleared up, and that the 
fortunes of the brave fellows who have risked so much 
will appear more favourable than the present meagre 
infoimation to hand seems to indicate. And again, the 
Endurance, now due at any time in South America, may 
arrive with Sir Ernest and his party safely aboard. Though 
he had failed to carry out his splendid project in full, the 
whole nation would breathe a sigh of profound relief to 
known that at least he and tho.se with him, are safe. 
For the present we must derive such comfort as wc can 
from the certain knowledge that the Empire does not 
hold a man more fitted for the task he undertook than 
Sir Ernest Shackleton, and that in such men as Wild, 
Crean, Hurley, and Marston, he has men of as great 
resource in emergency as himself. 
***** 
P.S. — I add this on .\pril 4th as the article goes to 
Press. I see from the information contained in to-day's 
despatch to the Daily Chronicle, concerning the missing 
Southern . parties, is still obscure, byt Lieut. Stenhouse 
who has now reached New Zealand on the Aurora 
considers that the bad weather would accoimt for their non- 
return up to the time the ship left Hut Point. 
It now appears that the party that set out on January 
25th from the ship headed for Mount Hooper, which is 
175 miles from Hut Point. 
it would seem that the motor-sledge was found to be 
as unsatisfactory as those of the Scott expedition, as it 
failed to reach Hut Point. One of Captain Scott's 
motors, after numerous breakdowns, pushed on some 
fifty miles or more further. 
Great difficulty seems to have been experienced by 
the sledging parties off Cape .\rmitage, according to the 
latest despatch. This place has always had a bad 
reputation for dangerous ice, owing to erosion by the 
current which flows under the Barrier here. 
We would draw attention to the charming shilling paper- 
covered booklets pulilislu'd for the Miedici .Society by Mr. 
Philip Lee Warner, under the generic title of Meninrahilia. 
.'\ninng the latest volumes to he issued are PnrJraiU 0/ Chris/ 
and The Lasl Suf>pcr ; thev are erlited by Mr. G. V. Hill of the 
British Museum and illustrated with reproductions of famou? 
pictures. Mr. A. \i. Zimniern's translation of the iii^toncal 
speech of Pericles forms another but tmillustrated \olume, 
and yet another contains Easier Poems. These Memor;diilia 
arc a di-tinct boon to lovers of literature and art.' 
